Buy Food In Bulk To Save Money At The Grocery Store

People Need To Eat Healthy All The Time

Food at the grocery stores has become very expensive in recent years. Young families are having trouble stretching their budget to cover the cost of food and their other bills. Feeding their families has become a real challenge. The grocery budget is the first place to cut when trying to pay the other rising bills. It is the not good for the future health of their family members.

Children need certain vitamins and minerals to nourish their young bodies while they are young. What they eat as children will affect their health as they grow up. Even into their adult years. It affects their performance in school as well. Not getting enough vitamins and minerals will affect their teeth as they get older. Most important they will turn to the habits they learn at home when they go out into the world on their own.

The parents also need to eat healthy. For an adult reaching their forties without eating enough vitamins and minerals will most certainly affect their future years. After you reach middle age, if you have not taken care of your health by eating smart and getting exercise, your health will start breaking down.

Make A Food Plan

Buying food in bulk will save money. It is cheaper to buy larger quantities of food products. It also stops you from purchasing processed foods, which are not a good healthy choice besides being expensive. Learning to prepare your family's food without using processed foods is a big step in the health of your family. Not only is it healthy, but it tastes good.

To get started, make a menu plan of each main dish your family eats for a week. Then figure out how many times a month you prepare each one. If there is a dish you prepare only once a month, include it in the plan. Now add the side dishes to the plan. If dessert is part of your meals, don't forget to figure them into the plan. The next step is to multiply it by twelve, and you will have a plan for the whole year.

Then start figuring out how much of the ingredients you need to make that many meals. In the beginning you will not be able to buy enough for the whole year. Make a stab at trying to buy enough for two to three months at a time. If you have a freezer that makes it easier to store the foods, than for someone who does not have one. There are other ways to store foods if you don't have a freezer. Don't worry about that for now. There are many stores now where you can buy meat and vegetables in bulk at lower prices, or buy from a local farmer.

Depending on how big your family is, and how big of eaters they are, will make or break your food plan. If you don't include in the plan the correct amounts of food for each meal, it won't work. A teenage boy eats more than a three-year old boy. A man who sits at a desk all day does not need to eat as much as man who builds houses, or works on the roads.

By serving quality meals at home you will find your family's health will improve. Not only that, but your family's meal times can become a time for them to gather together as the children become older. Family time is not what it used to be. That is sad. Eating fast food in front of the television or computer is accepted. Nobody talking to each other. A simple change as buying foods in bulk can do wonders for your family life also.

Buy Large Sizes

Credit: Kathleen G. LupoleCredit: Kathleen G. Lupole

Make A List

This is an example of what your main dish list should look like:

1. Roast Chicken

2. Meatloaf

3. Pork Chops

4. Tuna Melts

5. Stir Fried Beef

6. Chicken & Dumplings

7. Turkey Stew

8. Hamburgers

9. Spaghetti

10. Baked Fish Fillets

11. Oven Fried Chicken

12. Macaroni & Cheese

13. Beef Stew

14. Chili

Then you would do the same with a side dish list:

1. Potatoes

2. Carrots

3. Green Beans

4. Coleslaw

5. Lima Beans

6. Creamed Corn

7. Spinach

8. Broccoli

9. Asparagus

10. Cauliflower

11. Winter Squash

12. Wax Beans

13. Cabbage

14. Kale

Eating salads is a good habit to teach your children at a young age. Then use it to round out the meals by serving it every night. Just make different salads so they don't get bored with them.

Make a list of all the ingredients neededto make each main dish and each side dish. After you figure out how much of each ingredient you need for the month, then multiply it by how many months you are aiming for. Some vegetables, especially the salad vegetables are the only ones you will need to buy in between. Dairy products too, are bought fresh for best quality.

Bulk Sizes Of Cooking Oil

Credit: Kathleen G. LupoleCredit: Kathleen G. Lupole

"I Don't Know How To Cook!"

The bottom line is to prepare what your family likes to eat. It is not going to save money if they do not like the food. The menus are not set in stone. Cooking this way is not really harder. Putting a boxed meal together takes less time, sure. But is it as good? Once you start cooking your own foods, you will be proud of what you serve to your family. These are the people you love! Don't you want to send them out into the world nourished and happy? Try it and see what happens.

What if you are not a good cook? You can read, can't you? Go online and search some of the recipe websites. There are a lot of videos now showing you how to cook. If you are just starting out, take the time and learn. Try some easy recipes at first and then graduate to the harder ones. Cooking is not a chore once you learn to do some simple foods. How do you think your family will react? Will they laugh that you are cooking? Maybe so. Not after you start getting the hang of it. Make it an accomplishment, to have lowered the grocery bill and feed your family good, tasty, healthy food every day. They will thank you for it!